No Place Like Hell
by KyuketsukiKokoro
Summary: A MattxMello fic! So yes, yaoi-ness, specifically more in later chapter to come! So don't read if you're not going to enjoy the whole thing, flamers do so at own risk! Rating will go up.
1. A Prologue Of Sorts

**So, first chapter up! For anyone interested, this is how I would've made Death Note... But it's not mine, so I can't change anything! Matt and Mello's Death Day is coming up soon, so I'm sad... but this'll make up for it? Heh, I hope so! Anyway, please enjoy!**

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The bullet's flashed past, the impact causing blood to spurt from holes in the once immaculate, furry vest, a trickle of blood running down his forehead from where another bullet had skimmed past, catching and tearing a tiny piece of his skin.

_Don't move. Don't blink. One move and you're dead, _the male thought to himself, feeling the powerful smashes against him, before it all ceased as abruptly as it had began. With barely a small pause, the body fell backwards, seemingly lifeless and unmoving.

Several miles away, a young, blond male stared at the screen on his dashboard, viciously fighting the tears that threatened to overflow. How could he have put the red-head in this situation? His closest friend… Gone. In the back, he could hear the slight scratching of pencil on paper.

_Takada! That bitch… I should've anticipated it. _He waited, prepared for his own death. What did he have to live for? Forty seconds. There was a pause, as he realised he was still alive, before realising she was waiting as well…

The blond head smacked down against the steering wheel, and the lorry swerved dangerously, coming to a stop precariously close to a building, luck keeping the two objects from impacting violently, as a booted foot slid from the pedal.

The two bodies, one barely twenty, the other horrifyingly close to his twentieth birthday. And it had seemed, to his only and closest friend, that he would never reach it.

**It just went to show, how wrong even the cleverest person could be. **

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**End of chapter one! Or is it a prologue? I think it's the latter... Anyway, rate and review? I'll love you for it, and I'll reply to people as well... No, I don't have too much time on my hands! Well, maybe a little.. Heh. Anyways, stay tuned? Next chapter [official first chapter] will be up soon!**


	2. To The Apartment

**Another update! Maybe a little unexpected for some? But seriously.. No, I won't go on, heh.. I wouldn't want to ruin the plot, after all :D Anyway, I don't own Death Note, or this would be my spinoff. Enjoy!**

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It seemed like hours that he was forced to stay, his back uncomfortably bent, lying across the seat of his car, his chest aching slightly from the harsh impact that even a bullet proof vest couldn't save him from.

After an age, he could no longer hear the sound of cop cars nearby; no longer sense the eyes that kept creeping to the bloodstained figure. Cracking an eye open, he slowly edged himself into a sitting position, rubbing his chest, finally glad that his blond best friend was paranoid about him getting shot, and forcing him to constantly wear the Kevlar vest underneath his trademark stripy shirt.

The fake blood probably helped though… Good thing no-one had thought to take a sample from the motionless body. That could've been chaotic…

He slowly stood, sadly surveying the damage to his car. With a low groan, partly of mourning, he patted the unfortunate vehicle once on the bonnet. Walking it was then.

Mello sprinted from the building as it went up in flames, his hand automatically going to the rosary that had permanently hung around his neck. He panicked, half-turning to run back to the burning building as he found it missing. No… He had to find Matt's body before anyone else did. He needed a proper burial… It was the least he could do for getting his friend into this mess.

He blinked away tears fiercely as he ran, barely noticing the burn in his muscles from his days sitting slumped underground coupled with the sudden burst of intense sprinting. Bloody Mafia… It took him an hour – by which time he had slowed to a more reasonable pace – to reach the mutilated red sports car. He smiled slightly, sadly, to himself, pacing up to it, before freezing.

No body. No Matt. Had someone found him? There was another moment of panic, while he hand flew to his chest to try and clutch at the non-existent cross again, before he studied the bloody smudges more closely. He tentatively touched it, then frowned.

Fake? Leaning across, he sniffed it, looking vaguely disgusted, before backing away again. Definitely fake… So Jeevas had escaped, had he? Damn… That would just make it impossible to find him.

Of course, that wasn't likely to stop the hot-headed young Mafia boss. He was willing to search Japan from top to bottom, if that's what it would take to find his partner in crime again.

At the same time, Matt stood nearby to a burning building, his quick eyes easily picking out the van, and matching it to the one Mello had been driving. Too close for comfort were other's, both from the Task Force and the SPK. Time for yet another getaway… Three was far too many for one evening.

Despite the knowledge of how dangerous and stupid it would be, Matt turned to head for the old, shabby apartment that he and his blond friend had shared before Mello had gone and gotten himself holed up with the _Mafia._

Matt thought the name in disgust, breaking into a jog as he realised that on this street, with shops still open, he was getting far more strange looks than he was interested in receiving. Hadn't people seen a young red-headed man covered in blood before? More than likely no. But still…

The blond boy glanced around, trying to find some clue as to which way he would've gone, and finding none. The computer hacker was always far too careful to erase his tracks… Mello couldn't tell whether he'd picked that up from the short-tempered man himself, or from the hacking safety manual.

Was there even a safety manual for that? Mello swore inwardly at himself as his mind began to creep of on one of its many tangents. Being a genius could be hard, he had decided, none too modestly, quite a while ago. When he was fourteen, to be exact. When he'd left Wammy's.

He shook his head to clear it, deciding that now he was legally 'dead', he couldn't go back to the Mafia. There'd be far too much of a fuss… Damn. The apartment then? His old one. The one he had dragged Matt from, forfeiting his safety, and consequently leaving the two of them in this mess.

On the bright side… No, not the bright side. The slightly less dark side. On that side, at least he knew the game-obsessed red-head was alive.

Which was more than Matt knew of _his _best friend. He'd had to stop, his smoker's lungs weren't up to long journey's by foot… Admittedly, it hadn't bee such a long one, but the running had worn him out. Maybe Mello was right, and he did need more exercise… Huh.

Choosing a nicely secluded inset doorframe, Matt pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, expecting them to be as mutilated as his jacket. By some miracle, they were still entirely intact, and he pulled one from the packet – which he then stuffed roughly back into his pocket – and held it to his lips, before searching his pocket's for a lighter.

He dropped his hand from his mouth as he swore violently. It must've dropped out when he fell… Stupid bloody cops. He sighed quietly; or at least, quietly in comparison to his recent tirade of cursing. After a short while, he decided to shove the cancerous stick back into the pocket, aching sadly from his addictions going missing. Smoking, his car, Mello… Wait, no. Mello wasn't an addiction. Mello was… Mello.

Whatever. With that thought stuck impossibly tightly in his head, he set off again at walking pace towards the distant apartment, his expression glum, his face up to his nose tucked into the bloodstained fur of his in-need-of-replacement jacket to fend off the nightly cold. Or was it early morning?

Mello's thoughts were different, as he cussed loudly at the fact that the chocolate had deformed itself in his pocket from the heat of the fire. Peeling tiny chunks off the inside of the pocket's of his impossibly tight leather trousers, he continued to swear loudly, ignoring the odd glances he was receiving from people who would soon be wondering why a bloodstained nineteen-year-old was wondering through the street. Mello didn't care. He just needed his goddamn chocolate.

"_Matt... I will find you."  
_

"_Mello… I'm sorry."_

Both spoke in synchronisation, both sad for their own separate reasons. Both heading in the same direction.

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**Diabolic : Heh, official chapter one ends! Was it good? Bad? Review? I love teh reviews, and thankies to my two reviewers! Especially to Jacey Keehl, who not only had the first review to this story, but the first this account had ever had! Ever! Glomps to you, and I hope you enjoy chapter to come! That includes everyone! Heh, I'll be quiet now? **

**Mello : Excuse me, I'm not that weird about my chocolate!**

**Matt : And I am not addicted to Mello! Jeez, talk about OOC...**

**Diabolic : Hey, shut up! Both of you! Or I really will kill you... :D**

**M&M: :O *Mello draws gun* *Matt lights cigarette***

**Diabolic : *runs* Anyway... Hope you enjoyed, please ignore future author notes if you don't want to see me conversing with anime characters... Heh.**


	3. Polar Opposites?

**No, I'm not actually dead... Ok. So I haven't updated in ages. Feels like ages, anyway... Heh. So yeah, the next chapter! Yay! Thanks to the wonderful reviewers, and I apologise again for taking ages. So, here's my excuse; I've been sort of busy, and I've been feeling horribly uninspired, so it's lucky I even managed to write this chapter.. So, I hope you enjoy!**

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Mello crashed down onto the battered, worn out couch, half expecting it to collapse underneath him. When it didn't, and when he was suitably satisfied that it wasn't going to – which he tested by numerous hesitant jumping attacks – he went to fetch himself some chocolate, then slouched back  
across it.

He was halfway through his second bar, when his sharp ears picked up footsteps. It far too late – or early, however you wanted to look at it – for any of the residents of the crappy little apartment block to be mobile, and the blond was automatically on edge, pulling his gun from his trousers swiftly as he repositioned himself, all his muscles tensing as he heard a key in the lock of his apartment.

Outside, Matt continued trying to open the door, without even thinking to check if it was open already from a previous – supposedly dead – 'visitor'. After several minutes, he finally gave up, giving the door a kick as his revenge, his eyes widening as it swung open. Tentatively, he stepped inside, and the next few steps would be full of suprises for him, he quickly discovered.

He turned to shut the door, and as he did so, something very solid and about an inch taller than him slammed him against the door, with another very cold object shoved against his head. Matt raised his hands slowly above his head. After escaping a near-death situation, he was now going to be killed in his own apartment. Oh, the irony! He silently damned the sarcastic part of his brain – mostly picked up  
from a certain gun-wielding blond – to hell, if he ever got out of this. Stupid, manic, house jackers!

There was a very long pause, while Matt expected to be shot, or at the very least, threatened for money, or something similar, and while Mello stared at the red-headed figure he was currently holding a gun to. Somehow, the neatly frayed jeans, odd furry jacket, and messy, dark crimson hair hiding a strap to the goggles that were worn around his neck were very familiar…

"Matt?" The voice startled the younger or the two, who recognized it very easily, but refused to believe it. Party because this guy was dead. Very dead. Wasn't he?

Slowly, the blond boy released his partner from his death-grip, letting him turn around, one hand threading through his hair nervously, messing it up further.

After a few moments of shocked staring, the red-head nodded. "Mello? Are you a ghost or something?"

An even longer silence followed, where the usually bad-tempered blond considered smacking the unfortunate gamer. "No," he finally sighed, an exasperated look on his face. "I'm not a fucking ghost, you retard," he added, his tone rude. Most of it was for show though; he was actually relieved. Incredibly so. He'd thought he would spend days, maybe weeks trawling the city to find his friend, and now he had simply been restored to him. Heh, sounds like I'm talking about a piece of property, Mello thought to himself, shaking his head.

Matt continued to stare as if it were some sort of miracle. "But, there was the fire.." he mumbled, cursing his stupidity. Mello had escaped? And he hadn't thought of this earlier? Too much to think about for a guy, he eventually decided, before throwing his arms around the half-irritated, half-amused blond in a haphazard hug.

"Alright, alright! Get the hell of me, would ya?" Matt grinned as he disentangled himself quickly, before making his way over to his couch and flopping down onto it, massaging his chest slightly. What with walking, no smoke, and violent impact, he wasn't in the greatest shape.

Mello rolled his eyes, dropping down beside Matt. "So-" he began, but Matt cut him off, by way of waving a hand in front of his face. "Get me my smokes."

For once, Matt's words were simply an order, as opposed to his usual soft, politely hopeful questions. It was more out of surprise that Mello found himself on his feet and heading to Matt's room to collect said item than anything else. Usually he would've laughed and told him to 'get them yourself, you lazy fuck'. Ah, how the times had changed.

Returning to the room, he tossed the packet at Matt, who caught it without looking up and grabbed the lighter of the decrepit coffee table, holding one of the cancerous sticks to his mouth and lighting it, taking a long drag, before puffing it out into a hazy cloud that hovered over his head for a few seconds before dispersing.

The two boys sat in their apartment, exchanging stories of their little adventures, and either eating – chocolate, if course – or smoking.

"So, you're glad I'm a paranoid idiot now, eh?" Mello joked, while his red headed friend nodded fervently.

"Yeah! Bloody saved my life," he replied, in possibly a too-cheerful voice, sighing happily. "I seriously thought you were dead though! You could've called or something.." he added, pouting in his cute, small-child way. Or possibly like a puppy. Something small and innocent, anyway.

A lot of the time, his expressions were much more innocent than they should be; his facial muscles seemed to still think he was a six year old. For someone of his experience to suddenly grin like a kid on Christmas Day was weird. Once or twice, people could understand. But it always happened. He had a permanently, ridiculously childish face.

Unless he was being quiet, or deep in thought, or sad. He still looked too young, but older than he usually looked. Some of his experience and age actually showed on his face.

Mello was different. He did look mature, and not just because of his badass scar. Even while they had been younger, at Wammy's, Mello still looked more mature. He and Matt could've been described as polar opposites.

And yet, there they were, laughing and joking, obviously on the same wavelength. The gamer and the… Well, frankly – in Matt's eyes at least – the most gorgeous guy ever. Not that he'd admit that to anyone. Not a chance. But still.

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**Not so much a cliffie, but maybe? A little? No? Oh well. Was it a good chapter? I hope so, I was going to write this one longer, but I found it slightly difficult. Anyway, reviews? I love them, and it takes me ages to write without enough incentive :3 Heh, so yeah, hopefully I'll be back with a new chapter soon, yeah? Cool.**


	4. Addictions And Paint

**I was yelled at for another chapter, so this was created! Yep, I know my updates are really bad... I'd like to say I'm usually better, but I've been having such crap writers block recently. I know this is a bit random. Maybe the next chapter will be better? Yeah, maybe. I don't like this one much, it seems kinda like a filler to me. Heh.**

**I still don't own Death Note! Tis so sad T_T I also don't own Hadouken!, but I love their music :D Maybe go and google/youtube them? Heh. **

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Matt spent the rest of the day catching up on his games, while Mello moaned constantly about being unable to do any more for the case. He was meant to be dead, after all. Eventually, the complaining of his companion began to grate on a nerve. Now that wasn't a frequent happening, not at all.

He turned from his screen, suprising Mello slightly. "Mello. Stop complaining, we've helped Near to be capable of completely the case, and avenging L, isn't that enough?"

He really should've known better, on reflection. Almost instantly, he was dragged from his comfortable stop on the floor by the front of his stripy shirt, being lifted a centimetre or two off the ground to find himself nose-to-nose with a very suddenly furious blond.

"_What the hell_." Matt winced slightly as he heard the venomous tone in the older boy's voice, mentally kicking himself, and preparing for the thorough in-your-face screaming that he was almost certain was about to come.

But it didn't. Instead came a threatening calm that was possibly worse than being screamed at.

"Matt. I wanted to be the one to avenge L. I did not intend on throwing the case straight to _Near._" He really sounded furious. His hands were shaking as he gripped Matt's shirt with a strength that he was sure would rip the fabric. It was horribly uncomfortable to be held off the floor for prolonged amounts of time, with stitching digging against his arms, as he kept as limp as he could to try and keep the material intact.

After quite a while, Mello's grip loosened, and Matt crashed straight into the floor, unhurt but shocked as he stared up at the blond with confused eyes, partially hidden by orange lenses.

There was awkward moment of silence, before Mello suddenly held out a hand, which Matt took, and hauled the red head to his feet, before letting go quickly and going to get himself another chocolate bar. Matt frowned a little, rubbing his chest, slightly before he settled down back to his game. In the short amount of time between Mello leaving the room, and Mello returning with chocolate, he was already engrossed in his game, not noticing the eye roll and sigh directed at him, as silver foil was torn from a bar, not hearing the usually annoying snap of chocolate being broken off.

Matt's games easily took all of his attention. Mello disliked not being the centre of attention. It was probably unjustified, but hadn't the crimson haired teen thought he was dead? So shouldn't he still to mentally happy that he was alive? It made sense to Mello. To Matt, going back to his usual routine made sense, as he flicked a cigarette butt into the bin, before snatching himself up a new one, and lighting it up.

Within the space of an hour and several bosses, Matt had successfully chain smoked through an entire packet of the cancer sticks, much to Mello's annoyance. He hated the smell of second hand smoke lingering around the room. More than once before, he'd ranted at the red head for his deadly addiction for hours on end. And the whole time, Matt would be smoking his way through a pack.

It was ironic really. Matt had survived a seemingly impossible situation, and was now probably going to die early anyway. It didn't annoy Mello because he cared. Hell no… The blond didn't really care about anything, right? Right. He nodded to himself thoughtfully, still going unnoticed. No, he cared about the fact he spent most of his time living in an apartment that smelt permanently of smoke. Urgh.

He continued to snap pieces off his chocolate, while Matt concentrated. Honestly, he did notice Mello, but chose to ignore everything. The snapping was beginning to annoy him though. He was a little on edge today, really. Near death must do that to a guy, he concluded, tapping at buttons as quickly as he could.

Matt flicked on the radio, skimming through stations as he tried to find some music that didn't sound like a rapper being strangled. He wasn't a fan of… Well, rap. Or R&B.

Different music kept blaring, until he eventually found a station that wasn't playing totally lousy music. In his opinion, anyway. Matt would've settled for just about anything. As far as Mello could remember, the younger boy loved some band called 'Hadouken!' at the moment. Something like that. Random lyrics blasted throughout the apartment, and he could see Matt inwardly jumping around to the beat.

The red head had a habit of jumping around manically to music, head banging with his air guitar. Total dork. Not that Mello minded. It was nice to have such an eccentric friend. Well. Maybe that was a little harsh. After all, he was the one with the hair-brained plots and leather/chocolate addiction. Maybe Matt was more normal? Nah, not possible.

Mello smiled to himself aimlessly, leaning back on the couch, his head lolling over the back, so he was left to stare at the ceiling. It didn't have any interesting patterns, or anything similar. Just blank, boring white. Like Near. Mello frowned for a moment, before turning to Matt with a grin.

"Let's paint the ceiling."

Matt frowned, pausing his game to turn and stare at Mello.

"Are you insane?" he asked, trying to sound as polite as possible in that sort of situation. "There's nothing wrong with the ceiling," he added, glancing up at it, still with the same vaguely confused and concerned look on his face.

"It's boring, and no, I'm not crazy." Mello scowled. He hated it when people called him mad. Which he was, in some ways, but that didn't mean he liked it. His mood swings meant that Matt usually just went along with whatever he came up with, but he seemed to have suddenly developed an interest for opposing the blond. Not safe. Well, it probably was, since it was him… But still.

Matt rolled his eyes, before turning back to his beloved Mario game, earning himself a slap around the head. Damn, Mello could move fast. He pulled his goggles back into place quickly, before sighing dramatically, almost like Mello would.

And the blond noticed this, too. He grabbed the red head by the arm, dragging him across the floor towards the door, earning a series of annoyed and pained squeaks as his shirt rode up, the carpet burning across his back. Mello paused, staring at the younger of the two for a moment, before pulling him to his feet.

Matt rubbed his back as best as he could, frowning sadly. Same old Mello, it seemed.

"So. Let's go buy paint," he mumbled. And he'd been so happy with his game. It was still on pause, which was good. He'd be able to play it when… Oh. When they were done painting. Because there was no way Mello would allow him to be distracted when he wanted something done.

A set of keys were thrown at him, and he caught them deftly, looking at Mello in confusion.

"I'm getting a coat, and my wallet. Go start the bike, idiot," he told him, wishing he could've come up with a better insult. He left the room to search his bedroom for the money he knew was there, leaving Matt to wander down to the motorbike.

Matt spent a good minute staring at the bike, before he heard a door slam somewhere above his head, inside the apartment block, and quickly started up the engine, giving it a quick pat, before Mello emerged, humming aimlessly. He seemed in an oddly good mood. Not that he was going to complain. Although, Mello's mood swings were confusing, at best.

The blond swung his leg over the bike, and Matt quickly climbed onto the sleek machine behind him, pausing for a moment, before catching hold of slim, leather covered hips as the motorbike was revved up. He had always preferred cars.

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**Yay, did you enjoy? As I said, I'm not so sure about how good this chapter is. Next up; paint it bought and a ceiling is painted! Such a random idea... Should I throw in a little yaoi? Might be amusing for me to attempt to combine the two... But not too difficult, I don't think... Review and tell me what you think? It make me update faster, especially if you tell me it's good then yell to update! *happy dance* So yeah. Good? Yaoi wanted? Just more updates? Then tell me! Please? :3**


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